Benefits of Accreditation
ABAI accreditation provides global recognition of the quality of the behavior analysis training program and its graduates. Accreditation is both a process and a status. ABAI’s accreditation process is designed to encourage, support, and recognize exemplary training of behavior scientists and scientist-practitioners in the experimental and theoretical foundations of behavior analysis and in ethical and evidence-based practice, and to promote continuous improvement through voluntary accreditation.
There are many benefits to the accreditation process and status, not only to the program, institution, and personnel; but also, to current and prospective students; and to the community. Accreditation serves as a seal of quality while simultaneously encouraging programs to improve as they evolve. Accredited programs signal to the community that they meet or exceed established public expectations of quality, and the completion of an accredited program sets job-seeking students apart. These benefits are described in further detail below. Each section contains benefits unique to that category/individual.
Behavior Analysis Program
- Creates a process for continuous evaluation and quality improvement of the curriculum, program, and department, and provides the impetus for identifying strengths and weaknesses.
- Promotes an outcomes assessment process linking goals, activities, and outcomes.
- Creates guidelines for faculty qualifications, which lead to higher standards in hiring, increased scholarly and professional activities, and more focused faculty development.
- Accreditation creates guidelines when structuring programs and articulates behavior analysis credits.
- Respects the program’s mission, objectives, and faculty expertise by providing flexibility in the program’s arrangement and areas of training.
- Validates the quality of work in the behavior analysis program and communicates achievements to multiple levels of the institution.
- Provides leverage when seeking physical resources and budgets, grant proposals, and course or program proposals.
- Increases marketing and advertising opportunities in press releases, on websites, in the college catalog, on business cards, and other marketing materials.
- Provides an opportunity to select a program delegate to serve ABAI’s annual convention.
Faculty and Staff
- Fosters a sense of pride within the behavior analysis faculty and staff when national peers have validated a program.
- Provides opportunities for faculty to receive ongoing professional development, course development, and program improvement.
- Encourages the faculty’s innovation and creativity in the methods of instruction and modes of delivery.
- Provides opportunities for conducting site visits at other institutions.
- Provides reassurance for faculty that their program must remain an integral part of the institution.
- Ensures that the program has an organized administrative structure and decision-making process that incorporates the program faculty and input from its students.
- Ensures that faculty are sufficient in number and quality, to facilitate manageable workloads.
Current and Prospective Students
- Reaffirms the commitment to effective student services and ensures students receive meaningful feedback about their progress in the program at regular intervals; the program assists students who are experiencing difficulty in progressing satisfactorily.
- Signals to prospective employers and graduate programs that the student has completed a quality academic program.
- Increases marketability on resumes and in interviews.
- Graduates from ABAI-accredited bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs meet the BACB's® Pathway 1 degree and coursework requirements for BCaBA® and BCBA® certification.
- Allows prospective students to fairly evaluate and compare programs through the disclosure of outcome measures.
- Encourages programs to diversify practical training and research opportunities to best serve students.
- Ensures adequate and ongoing access to equipment, software, and learning resources for students.
- Helps students transfer credits (in some cases).
- Helps graduates of accredited bachelor’s programs prepare for graduate schools and graduates of accredited master’s programs prepare for doctoral programs as the accredited program has met quality standards.
- Ensures the curriculum promotes knowledge of contemporary issues in the field, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and mastery of technologies necessary to conduct research.
- Ensures practicum and research environments, including arrangements for supervision, are sufficient in number and quality to support the achievement of student learning outcomes and program objectives.
- Encourages students to participate in professional development activities.
- Ensures that student complaints receive due process and maintains records of resolution.
- Helps meet the criteria for Full Membership status with ABAI.
- Provides an opportunity for selected students to serve as a program delegate and gain experience assisting with events, awards at ABAI’s annual convention, and outreach to ABAI student members.
Institution
- The pursuit of accreditation reinforces a commitment to continuous improvement, innovation, and scholarship.
- Enhances the focus on quality of student learning and renews a commitment to the educational mission.
- Contributes to a more positive review by regional accreditors.
- Creates greater visibility for the institution.
- Provides prestige and credibility when seeking funding resources from donors, foundations, and governments.
- Contributes to performance-based funding in some states.
- Increases marketing and advertising opportunities in press releases, on websites, in the college catalog, on business cards, and other marketing materials.
- Fosters a sense of pride within the institution.
Community
- Provides assurance to the public that accredited programs meet or exceed established public expectations and standards of quality.
- Services provided through the university and program partnerships foster relationships with qualified faculty.
- Provides opportunities for involvement in students’ academic training and experiential learning.
- Provides local organizations with opportunities to employ quality graduates with rigorous training in behavior analysis.
- Cultivates collaboration and meaningful partnerships with the community.
- Protects the wellbeing of the public by providing quality behavior analytic services and training.
- Establishes relationships and advisory committees to increase the productivity of the program and faculty.
- Improves the value of accreditation.
Benefits of ABAI's CHEA Recognition
- Demonstrates that ABAI is accountable to an external entity with rigorous standards for programmatic accreditors, which lends creditability and prestige to ABAI’s accreditation status.
- Provides assurance to the public that ABAI is competent to engage in quality review of behavior analysis training programs based on the standards that CHEA has developed.
- Shows ABAI’s commitment to meeting the quality expectations of the higher education community by maintaining CHEA recognition, which is voluntary.
- Indicates that ABAI engages in specific processes to improve the quality of behavior analysis training programs.
ABAI-Accredited Program: Marketing and Benefits Summary
Convention Benefits
- Free Expo Poster at the ABAI Annual Convention: ABAI-Accredited programs receive the best location and highest visibility at the ABAI Expo; they are located right inside the entrance of the poster hall, are positioned before other non-accredited programs, and have a large ABAI-accreditation logo displayed above the posters. In addition, the poster fee is waived for ABAI-accredited programs.
- Program Highlighted in Convention Materials: ABAI-Accredited programs are recognized in the convention program booklet; listed in a student-specific flyer provided at the welcome event of the annual convention; and the institution logos of accredited programs are promoted in large conference session on rotating slides.
- Free Reunion at the ABAI Annual Convetion: ABAI Accredited programs are encouraged to host a reunion to gather with your students, colleagues, and alumni. ABAI will prominently display the ABAI Accreditation logo on the signage provided for your program.
Student Delegate/Representative
- Accredited programs can select a graduate student to serve as a Program Delegate to ABAI’s annual convention. The Program Delegate will assist with events, awards, and outreach to Student members of ABAI throughout the year and at the annual convention.
- Program Delegates may also host a panel as part of ABAI’s Professional Development Series (PDS) to discuss a topic of special interest to the student member attendees. This is a great way to promote your program’s visibility and is an excellent opportunity for students to gain valuable experience and build their resume.
Discounted Job Placement Services
- ABAI provides accredited programs with a significant discount when posting faculty positions and internships through the ABAI Career Center. ABAI staff are available to assist in setting up interviews at the convention for open positions during the career fair too.
- Faculty positions for ABAI-Accredited programs posted through ABAI’s Career Center also receive a complementary email distributed to constituents.
Advertising Benefits
- ABAI Publications: ABAI provides space in the Inside Behavior Analysis journal and in the annual convention program at no cost (for classified or ½ page display ads) to ABAI accredited programs, giving these programs to access promote or advertise to over 4,000 ABAI members.
- Web: There are several locations where both your accredited program and logo are highlighted encouraging prospective students to find your program with the assurance that accreditation signals a peer-reviewed program of quality.
- ABAI provides a direct link to your program website from the ABAI accreditation page, encouraging traffic from our site to yours.
- ABAI’s Accreditation Board has been recognized by CHEA. Therefore, ABAI-Accredited programs are also listed on CHEA’s website, generating additional traffic and notoriety to the program.
- ABAI promotes your institutional logo on a rotating footer banner throughout the entire ABAI website.
- The BACB®’s BCBA and BCaBA handbook lists ABAI-accredited programs under Pathway 1 and provides a link within the respective handbook, and on their website, to ABAI’s list of accredited programs.
CBS Concentration
- ABAI-accredited programs who provide instruction and training experiences in Culturo-Behavior Science (CBS) are encouraged to establish an ABAI CBS concentration. You can learn more about the CBS concentration and how to apply by visiting our website. The CBS fees are waived for ABAI-accredited programs who establish a concentration.
References:
ACBSP Accreditation Overview. Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs. (n.d.) https://acbsp.org/page/accreditation-overview.
Brittingham, B., Harris, M. J., Lambert, M., Murray, F., Peterson, G., Trapnell, J., Vlasses, P., Wheelan, B., Wolff, R., Zlotlow, S., & Eaton, J. (2010, June 29). The value of accreditation. Council for Higher Education Accreditation. https://www.chea.org/value-accreditation